Expansive file tray



A. E. WESTIN EXPANSIVE FILE TRAY Filed Dec. 29, 1921 IINVENTOR fl/v/n E Vl esfm ATT ORNEY Patented Oct. 2, 1923.

UNITED STATES ALVIN E. WESTIN, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

EXPANSIVE FILE TRAY.

Application filed December 29, 1921. Serial No. 525,716.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN E. WESTIN, a citizen of the United States, residin at Seattle, county of King, and State of ashington, have invented a new and useful Expansive File Tray; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact specification, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The invention is a filing tray which may be used on top of a desk or table, or, as it is made of two telescoping sections, may be inserted inside of a drawer and its length adjusted to fit the width of the drawer.

One object of the invention is to construct an expansive file tray which has all the advantages of a common tray, as all of its edges are rounded to prevent its scratching the top of the desk and as it has ridges on the inner surface of the smaller section which make the inner sides and bottom of both sections flush at all times.

Another object of the invention is to construct an expansive-file tray with suitable ridges in it to ive itsuflicient strength to hold its shape if it is suspended near the top of a drawer by screws thru holes in its ends which will-make it possible to place the tray flush with the top of a drawer instead ofplacing it in the. bottom of the drawer.

Another object of the invention isto construct an expansivefile tray with a projection on the bottom of the inner section which will always be flushwith the bottom of the tray, and in which the length of filing space may be readily adjusted by a follower slidably held in a slot in the bottom of thetray.

And a still further object of the invention is to construct a follower for an expansive file tray which will occupy a depth of space equal to the depth required by the slight backward slant with double sides so that there are four notches to cause friction, which is removable and reversible, and

which may be stamped from one piece of material.

= ith these ends in view, the invention embodies a rectangular shaped section with one and open and a slot in its bottom, having the edgeapn each side of the slot and the edges at tlietops of the two sides bent over to form coves and another similar section somew at smaller than the formr section,

be screwed to the inside of a drawer or case.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the draw ings, wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the tray.

Figure 2*:is a longitudinal section.

Figure 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the follower.

In the drawings I have shown my card tray as it would be constructed wherein numeral 1 indicates the larger section, 2 the smaller section and 3 the follower. The larger section 1 may be made of two thin pieces of stamped material in the shape of a box with its top and one end open and a slot 4 in. its bottom. On the sides of the slot 4 are grooves 5 formed by bending flanges 6 cut from the bottom of the section up and over as shown in Figure 3. At the end of the slot is a bar 7 which is reinforced by allowing a flange 8 on the metal I is bent downward until it is in line with.

the lowest edge of the section so that it will bear on the surface upon which the tray is set. The lower outer side corners 10 of .the section 1 are bent downward to form the groovesll in which the inner section rides while at the same time the remainder of .the bottom 12 of the section 1 is raised slightly above the bottoms of said groove portions so as to permit the lower flange 13 of the follower 3 to slide under it without touching the surface upon which the tray is set.

The follower 3 may be stamped from a single piece of material with a slightly rearwardly inclined plate 14, having slots 15 in the sides and on eachside of the section that forms the flange 13 and a lower section 16 which may be bent up from the side of the flange 13 and fastened to the back of the plate 14. The slots 15 should be of a suitable size to slide freely over the flanges (i on each side of the slot 4 and the plate 14 which extends upward from one side of the flange 13 will be bent so it will slant slightly backwards as shown in Figure 2.

The upper edges of the sides of the section 1 are bent over and down as shown in Figure 3 to form the grooves 17 into which the upper edges of the section 2 slide. The upper edge of the end of the section 1 may be bent over as shown in Figure 2 at the point 18 to reinforce the end. This end may be made in one piece with its sides bent around to form flanges 19 and its bottom which has a section cut out of the center bent down to form ridges 20 and then up to form flanges 21 at each side. The flanges 19 and 21 may then be fastened to the sides and bottom of the section 1.

The inner section 2 may be formed in part of a piece of material 22 which forms the end of the section and its upperedge 23 may be bent over as shown in Figure 2 to reinforce it. and its lower edge bent down to form the ridge 24 and then up to form the flange 25. The side edges are bent back to form flanges 29. The lower edge of the ridge 24 should be in the same plane as the bottom of the tray so that it will bear upon any surface upon which the tray is set. The sides and bottom of the section 2 may be made of l -shaped pieces of material with their corners 26 bent downward to fit the grooves 11 in the section land the edges of these members will be flat so that they will fit in the grooves 5 and 17 of the section 1. About midway of the bottom member of each L-shaped piece a ridge 27 is formed by bending the metalupward and the top of this ridge will be in the same plane as the tops, of the flanges 6 so that the bottoms of cards or any objects in the tray will be in the same plane even though some of the cards may be in section 1 and some in section 2. Ridges 28 similar to the ridges 27 may be formed in the sides of the section 2 for keep- 2 ing the edges of the objects in line. The

sides and bottom of the section 2 are fastened to the flanges 25 and 29 of the end 22.

It will be understood that changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. One of these changes may he in the method of fastening'the ends ofthe sections to the sides;

another may be in the location of the ridges 27 and 28 and still another may be in the ,placing of holes in the end of each of the sections instead of in the end of the inner section only as shown or in the use of more or less holes than are shown.

,The' construction will be readily understood from the foregoing description. To use the tray itimay be placed in the end of a drawer and the inner section moved outward until each end is against the sides of the drawer. Screws may then be placed in holes 31 to hold the tray in place. A follower 3 may be moved backward or forward to bear against cards or papers that may be put into the tray. It will be seen that this follower may be easily-taken out by twisting it so that the ends of the flange 13 may pass upward thru the slot 4 or if it is desired to use the tray from the opposite end the follower may be turned around so that it will slant in the opposite direction. It will be seen that this type of follower does away with the use of a rod or any other attachment for holding the follower.

Havin thus fully described the invention what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An expansive file tray of the type described comprising a rectangular shaped section with its top and one end open and a slotin its bottom, flanges on the edges of the slot bent over to form grooves, other flanges on the upper edges of the sides also bent over to form grooves, another section similar to the previous one somewhat smaller than it and also having a slot in the center of its bottom, the sides and the bottom of this section so constructed that the edges will slide in the grooves of the former section, ridges on the sides and bottom of the smaller section which project upward and outward so that they will be in the same plane as the surfaces of the flanges and a follower with slots in its sides to fit over the flanges on the edges of the slot in the larger section.

2. An expansive file tray of the type described embodying two telescoping sections, ridgesprojecting from the inside of the inner telescoping section for holding objects away from the body of the section and a follower slidably mounted on the inside of the outer section.

3. A device of the type described embodying two sections one telescoping inside of.

edges of the slot bent over to form grooves,

other flanges on the upper edges of thesides also bent over to form grooves, other grooves formed in the lower corners, another section similar to the previous one somewhat smaller than it and also having a slot in the center of its bottom, the sides and bottom of this section so constructed that the edges will slide in the grooves of the former section, ridges on the sides and bottom of the inseam smaller section which project inward, other rid es at the corners of the inner sectlon ,which project downward to fit in the grooves at the lower corners of the larger section and a follower with notches in its sides and a flange on its bottom.

5. An expansive file tra of the type described embodying two te escoping sections, ridges on the sides and bottom of the inner section, other ridges in the lower corners of the inner section to fit grooves in the lower corners of the large section, a projection on the outer end of the inner section to bring its lowest point in line with the lowest point of the larger section and a follower suitably mounted inside of the tray.

6. In anexpansive file tray of the. type described a follower constructed of one piece of material bent backward and then upward with projections on the ends of the flat piece at the bottom formed by providing notches in the sides adjacent to the flat piece.

VIN E. WESTIN. 

